Thoughts and writing on the world of golf and golf course architecture.

Monday, February 28, 2005

My mission statement

To my kind readers:

When I started this blog, it was a bit of a lark -- just killing some time during some downtime at work (I'm a business writer at the National Post and write about golf part-time in the sports section). Anyway, it has started to take a life of its own and it led me to realize that I haven't given any real indication as to the purpose of this undertaking.

Interestingly, I now enjoy an average of 30 to 50 readers a day, which is pretty neat considering I had no real expectations of ever finding an audience. Going for the Green was just meant as a clearing house for some of my past writing and an interesting opportunity to post some pictures and speak about the courses I've played. I hoped it would find some kindred spirits (I'm sound all Anne of Green Gables here), and apparently it has.

Along the way, I've encountered a bunch of other bloggers with similar ideas -- many of them are fascinating (like Jay Flemma's A Walk in the Park, Ms. Muse's Golfersmuse and the new Carlsbad Confidential -- a shout out to all golf bloggers out there).

It seems to me that the time is right to clarify some of my objectives.

So here goes:

1) I'm a Canadian and so there will be lots about Canadian golf, courses and the politics of golf in Canada on this site. Not everything, mind you, but lots. There are no other Canadian golf blogs that I'm aware of, so I'm kinda in this market alone.

2) I'm going to plunder from Golfobserver.com on an almost daily basis. This is the best golf resource on the Web and a must read every morning. The only problem is there are simply too many stories. I find the most interest one that day, discuss it a bit and post a link. I hope people have found some interesting stuff in this stories -- pieces from transexuals on the women's tour to the issues facing Riviera. I find these stories amazing, so I hope you do as well.

3) I'm going to continue to voice my opinion in short bursts and in a different way from the writing I do for magazines and the National Post. This is supposed to be a refreshing forum, so I'm going to mention that Phil Mickelson's deal with Callaway may have some baggage attached. I couldn't probably do that in the paper.... it may only be two paragraphs once a day, but I'm not going to water anything down. Oh, and the golf ball travels too far -- deal with it.

4) I'm going to try to post a photo of an interesting course once a week. It may not be a full review, but I'm going to try to do this anyway. Hopefully I'll have the chance to do some particularly interesting courses in the next bit -- places like Merion and Pine Valley that few ever see.

5) I'm not going to be too concerned about presentation. At work I spend my day dealing with a six year old Macintosh, the bane of my existence. I hate it -- it doesn't allow me to post links and use the spell check. Ugh. Anyway, I try to fix this stuff at home, but I have six month old and occasionally work on some writing that actually pays my bills. So that's going to come first. One day I'll also make the site's colours green. Until then they will be orange. What's so wrong with orange?

6) There is plans in the works to have some guests on Going for the Green (namely Ms. Muse and Jay Flemma). Hopefully this will vary the opinion. I'd love to have more guests -- kinda like submitted op-ed pieces in a newspaper. I think it'll spice things up. We'll see.

That's about all. I'd love to get more comments from people, but I'm delighted just to have my 50 readers a day. Sometimes I think that's funny, considering a half million people often read my stories in the Post everyday. However, this seems more intimate, like you and I are just heading out on the links on a cloudy day for a round. The course is quiet. We tee off and the conversation leads to the great game of golf.

That's what I'm hoping for. I may not achieve it, but it won't be boring.

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About Me

Robert Thompson writes a golf column for the National Post, Canada's daily national newspaper, and is a contributing editor to Travel and Leisure Golf. He has also written for Golf Magazine, PGATour.com, Ontario Golf, Score Golf and is a course rater for Golf Digest.
Going for the Green will comment on golf issues from course architecture to the PGA Tour, as well as providing regular course reviews.